A Detailed Guide to the Correct Use of Pig Premix
Classification of Feed Additives
Opinions on the classification of feed additives vary, and different scholars have proposed different classification methods. Based on many years of grassroots practice, the author believes that dividing feed additives into the following three categories is more readily accepted by grassroots workers.
1. Nutritional feed additives These mainly include amino acid additives, vitamin additives, mineral additives, etc. The purpose of such additives is to supplement the insufficient nutrients in the basal diet so that the diet achieves nutritional balance, that is, completeness.
2. Medicated feed additives These mainly include antibiotic additives, hormone additives, anthelmintics, antibacterial growth promoters, probiotics, Chinese herbal medicine additives, etc. The use of hormones, tranquilizers and the like as feed additives is prohibited in China, and the use of beta-agonists for the purpose of increasing the lean meat percentage of slaughter pigs is absolutely not permitted. The efficacy of such feed additives lies mainly in enhancing body immunity, promoting growth and improving economic benefits. The European Union has strict regulations on the use of antibiotics, and China also prohibits their abuse, which must be strictly implemented in accordance with the Regulations on the Administration of Feed and Feed Additives.
3. Additives for improving feed quality These mainly include antioxidants, fat inhibitors, mold inhibitors, flavoring agents, etc.
Providing pigs with a complete feed aims to improve their feed conversion rate, which is the wish and demand of the vast number of raisers. Under the condition that energy and protein are basically satisfied, using appropriate amounts of amino acids, vitamins, trace elements and other additives can perfect the completeness of the compound feed, thereby achieving the goals of reducing feed consumption and improving production levels and economic benefits.
Precautions for Using Premix
Using premix can improve the nutritional value of compound feed, but premix is, after all, an intermediate product in the production of compound feed. The types and requirements of feed vary greatly, and no matter how thoroughly premix production takes them into consideration, it is very difficult to fully match the production of various complete feeds. To use premix well and flexibly, attention should be paid to the following points:
1. Choose the correct model. Premix is scientifically designed according to the nutritional needs of different pig breeds and their different growth and development stages, so users should choose premix varieties for different stages according to the actual situation of the pigs. Some users, in order to save a little money for the moment, replace piglet feed with growing pig feed, not realizing that "a difference of 1 jin in piglets means a difference of 10 jin in adult pigs." Insufficient nutrition at the piglet stage affects the later development of the pigs, and this practice is not worth the loss.
2. Strictly mix feed according to the recommended dosage. Many raisers often arbitrarily change the recommended formula when using premix. Some users randomly reduce the proportion of premix in the compound feed in order to reduce costs, causing various nutritional indicators to fail to meet the growth needs of pigs at various stages. Some users arbitrarily increase the proportion of premix, which not only increases costs but also causes poisoning. What is worse, some even treat premix as "monosodium glutamate" and add small packets to complete feed, thereby destroying the "completeness" of the feed.
Avoid Application Misunderstandings
How to evaluate the advantages of pig premix depends on the actual use effect, and at the same time attention should be paid to several misunderstandings in understanding.
1. Is the blacker the feces, the better?
Many farmers believe that whether feed is good or not depends on whether the feces are black. There is a certain reason for this, but it is not entirely correct. It should be said that if the feed ratio is reasonable, the pig's digestion and absorption are good, and the feces are also good. The correct identification pattern is to "take a look" and "take a sniff." Not only should the color be examined, but also the moistness. Hard or watery feces are both abnormal. Special attention should be paid to whether there are undigested corn or cake meal particles in them, and then smell whether there is an abnormal odor. If the feces contain undigested particles, it can be certain that the feed is not completely digested and the feed formula may be unreasonable. In addition, if there is more wheat bran, rapeseed meal, etc. in the main formula, the feces will be black. High copper can make feces black, but this is by no means the purpose of using high copper. At present, domestic and international studies generally agree that copper has a growth-promoting effect during the piglet stage (before body weight of 30 kg), and the effect varies with environmental changes. At the same time, the diet must contain sufficient protein, amino acids and a certain level of iron and zinc, combined with corresponding antibacterial drugs, for high copper to exert its growth-promoting effect. High copper can turn feces black only when it is dozens of times higher than the requirement (that is, copper content of 125 mg/kg to 250 mg/kg), but exceeding 250 mg/kg will cause the liver to accumulate a large amount of copper, thereby causing copper poisoning in pigs, resulting in reduced hemoglobin and excessive jaundice. Copper also affects the activity of the hormone secretion system, reducing its activity to a critical state. At the same time, a large amount of copper is excreted from the body, which is also a serious pollution. Therefore, too much copper cannot be added, and one must never think that black feces mean good feed digestion and absorption.
2. Is it good if the pig's skin is red?
Glossy hair and rosy skin are signs of a healthy pig. If multivitamins are deficient, the hair will become thick, long and disordered, and the skin will become rough. Of course, other factors cannot be ruled out. If there are parasites or skin diseases, the coat and skin will both look very bad. Diarrhea or certain infectious diseases can also lead to such symptoms.
Red skin is divided into normal rosiness and drug-induced redness. Arsanilic acid is artificially added to feed, and a few illegal manufacturers even directly add red arsenic or white phosphorus to make pig skin rosy. The main purpose of adding arsanilic acid is not to make the skin red, but to use its antibacterial and growth-promoting effects. At low addition levels, it has bactericidal, bacteriostatic, dysentery-treating and growth-promoting effects. If the dosage is blindly increased in order to achieve drug-induced redness of the skin, arsenic poisoning will occur. Symptoms of poisoning: excessive use reduces growth rate and causes head tremors, intermittent blindness, ataxia and paresis. During activity, the muscles of the pig's shoulders, hind ankles and back tremble, followed immediately by violent tremors, ataxia, restlessness and screaming. Convulsions last for one minute, after which the pig lies on the ground and the trembling stops.
3. Is it good if the pig can eat and sleep well?
Many farmers believe that if a pig can eat and sleep well, it is eating good feed. As a result, illegal manufacturers add state-prohibited drugs such as tranquilizers to premix.
In fact, so-called ability to eat is a matter of palatability (loving sweet feed is a pig's nature), but it is not that the more it eats, the better. Generally speaking, low-energy, low-protein feed has high intake, while high-energy, high-protein feed has low intake. Pigs can completely self-regulate to ensure their own nutritional needs. For example, coarse bran actually has no nutritional value, or even negative value, and when added to feed, intake will increase. Therefore, in addition to observing the pig's environment and health status, attention should also be paid to feed quality (such as moldy feed, over-green soybean meal, unqualified calcium hydrogen phosphate, etc.) and the addition ratio of miscellaneous cakes that affect palatability. As long as the pig takes in reasonable nutrition, it should be very quiet. If the raising density is too high, the premix ratio is unscientific, or the pig's nutrient intake is insufficient or unbalanced or it has skin diseases, the pig will become excited and restless. It is not advisable to add sedative hypnotic drugs such as diazepam and libaiping to make pigs drowsy.
4. If every particle is visible, is it genuine and worth the money?
Many farmers believe that only premix in which blue particles can be found is a good product. In fact, the so-called visible particles are often untreated copper sulfate, which has poor solubility and absorbability in the gastrointestinal tract, and excessive amounts are more likely to cause adverse effects and even poisoning in pigs. In order to one-sidedly pursue high profits, some manufacturers choose raw materials such as copper sulfate mostly in the form of large granular crystals that have not undergone drying, crushing and other processing techniques. The crystal particle size is 1.5 mm, and the large ones even reach 3 mm to 4 mm, so the "blue particles" are naturally visible to the naked eye. Some illegal traders even use industrial-grade copper sulfate in premix production, which not only affects feed quality but also very easily causes adverse reactions and, in severe cases, can lead to poisoning.
Flexible Use of Recommended Formulas
To use production formulas correctly, they can be prepared according to product instructions, but in view of differences in pig breeds, feed types, different batches of the same feed, nutritional value differences by place of origin, and climate changes, appropriate adjustments are also allowed:
(1) When used for native pigs and two-way crossbred pigs, the proportions of corn and soybean meal can be appropriately reduced, using wheat middlings, rice bran, etc. to replace part of the corn, and rapeseed meal, cottonseed meal, etc. to replace part of the soybean meal. (2) Adjust according to different seasons. In winter, the proportion of energy feeds such as corn should be increased, and the proportion of protein feeds such as soybean meal can be appropriately reduced, but the decrease in crude protein should not exceed 15 percentage points; in summer, because intake decreases, the proportion of energy feeds such as corn should be reduced, the proportion of protein feeds such as soybean meal and rapeseed meal should be increased, and the calcium content should be appropriately raised. (3) If dried fish powder or casing powder is used, the amount of salt can be reduced. When pigs fight, salt can be added, even increased to above 0.5%. (4) Correctly select raw materials. Some users always purchase low-priced raw materials in order to reduce costs, not realizing that low price means low quality. For example, real fish meal has very good nutritional value, but once adulterated, it is worse than not using it at all. (5) Premix should not be used directly. When using premix, it should not be added directly. The multiple dilution method should be used, and it must be stirred evenly. (6) Changing premix should be done gradually. Suddenly changing premix may make pigs unaccustomed to it, thereby affecting intake and growth. When using premix, the amount of new feed should be gradually increased and the amount of old feed reduced. After about 7 days, the new premix can be used completely. (7) Pay attention to the safe storage of feed. The storage location for premix should be well ventilated, clean and dry, strictly protected from sunlight and rain, and used up within the shelf life as much as possible to prevent nutrient failure. (8) Pay attention to the crushing particle size of raw materials. If the particle size is too large, it affects digestion and absorption; if the particle size is too small, it not only increases production costs, but more importantly, it easily causes respiratory diseases and changes in the morphological structure of the gastrointestinal tract. For pigs, a particle size of 500 microns to 600 microns is appropriate.